Ch'garh all set to sing Vande Mataram

The BJP government in Chhattisgarh has completed all preparations for the mandatory singing of the national song in all educational institutions of the state, including

madrasas

, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Preparations have been completed for the singing of Vande Mataram in all schools, colleges and educational institutions at 11.00 am on Thursday to mark the centenary of the acceptance of Vande Mataram's first two stanzas as the national song, School Education Secretary of Chhattisgarh, Chittaranjan Kumar Khetan told.

The state government had made mandatory the recitaton of Vande Mataram in all educational institutions of the state on Thursday and the decision had been intimated to all the District Education Officers and Secretaries of Madrasa Board, Sanskrit Board and Secondary Education Board and Directors of Public Education, Rajiv Gandhi Sikshya Mission and NCERT of the state, Khetan said.

Amid controversy over making the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory, the senior secretary said the state government has not received any representation from anyone that they did not want to sing the national song in the state.

The Centre has asked all states to direct educational institutions that the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram should be recited on September 7 to mark the national song's centenary.

A state government order said it had decided to make its singing mandatory after receiving a letter from the Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh urging the state Chief Minister Raman Singh to issue appropriate directions.

Keeping this in mind, the state government made its singing mandatory in all educational institutions at 11.00 am on September 7, the order said.

Chief Minister Raman Singh has expressed his displeasure at the controversy created by some sections over the singing of the national song.

"It is most unfortunate that some people are trying to create a controversy over Vande Mataram. How can one say he cannot sing the national song?" he told reporters recently.